Featured set of the day: Republic Attack Gunship
Posted by Huw,
The featured set for today has been selected by Matt89190:
Star Wars is a franchise which is unique in many respects, but one of the main factors setting it apart from the crowd is its extensive lifespan, and the fact that new material has continued to be released throughout that time.
Every generation of children since the 70s has had some form or another of Star Wars to grow up with, and for them, that particular piece of the story will likely hold a special place in their heart.
Which parts of Star Wars are "best" or even "good" is debated often, but in spite of any notion of objectivity, I'm willing to bet you have a certain fondness for the film, comic, series or whatever else you grew up with.
Children of the 90's might have fond memories of the prequel trilogy; the kids of today will grow up to look back on the sequels with a certain fondness, and for me, it was The Clone Wars.
Being in the UK and not having Sky, the best way for me to watch it was to wait for the DVD at the end of each season and watch it all at once, like a kind of binge-watch before its time. Times have changed since then though, and in this era of Disney+, I've been revisiting this childhood favourite, going back through all the seasons before the new episodes.
I appreciate I haven't talked much about Lego so far, but this story is largely why the chosen set is so important to me. It's this renewed interest which got me looking back at the sets from that era. I think I was quite lucky in having The Clone Wars as my childhood series - I grew up watching one the greatest and most expansive pieces of Star Wars media in existence. Countless classic sets have been produced based on the series, and I was lucky enough to own several of them.
My favourite however, was 7676 Republic Attack Gunship.
Part of my love for it likely came from its prominence - the LAAT was a staple of The Clone Wars, showing up in almost every episode at some point or another. In many ways, the LAAT could even be considered equivalent to the original trilogy's X- or Y-Wings, at least in terms of its iconic status and instant recognisability.
Looking back, though, the set itself was brilliantly designed as well. I think the most evident testament to this is 75021 Republic Gunship. Whenever something is updated, Lego designers always take advantage of new techniques and pieces to overhaul the build (for example, 9493 X-wing Starfighter vs 75218 X-wing Starfighter). The amount of features the later Gunship shares with its predecessor really shows how ahead of its time 7676 was (credit should also likely be given to the original from 2003, but for one, I'm not as familiar with that set, and for another, I obviously have a massive bias towards 7676).
It was a sturdy construction, bulky but still "swooshable", and it more than lent itself to play - masses of interior space for troops (a rare thing in Lego Star Wars), heaps of the now-iconic flick-fire missiles, and plenty of extras to deploy - who doesn't love a speeder bike? Backed up by a strong cast of minifigures (Cody was always my favourite, and the Jedi and Ventress almost make up for the lack of a Jedi Bob), I genuinely believe that even with my ever-so-slight favouritism aside, the Republic Attack Gunship was the ideal play set.
I received 7676 for Christmas in, I believe, 2009 (which is somehow already 11 years ago) and it was the first large ship I ever owned. I probably owe the collection that followed - and continues to this day - largely to 7676 for sparking such a passion. A young boy with an interest in cool Lego spaceships might not seem Earth-shattering, but for me, that Gunship was special.
I played with it daily, swooshing to and fro, staging battles between droids and clones, and all the other antics you'd expect. Sadly, this story doesn't have a particularly happy ending. The stories my young self enjoyed acting out all too often involved the heroes crashing onto various planets, and as time went on, crash after crash, so many pieces of the Gunship went missing that it could no longer be rebuilt.
As I grew older, I went into something of a Clone Wars dark age, and as large parts of my collection were lost, dismantled or sold off, I was left without a single ship from the Clone Wars era having survived. Shelf space was instead devoted to superheroes, Technic, and other parts of the Star Wars universe.
More recently, thankfully, I've come back to my senses and I've been slowly trying to build up a collection of Clone Wars sets once more. 9525 Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Fighter and 7964 Republic Frigate have so far returned to pride of place on my shelves, and I intend to continue righting my past wrongs. The ridiculous prices of 7676, however, mean that unfortunately, it is likely to remain my white whale.
Nevertheless, hope is on the horizon. When the UCS set vote was published, I quickly voted for the LAAT, and thankfully, so did enough others. Whatever Lego produces, I probably won't swoosh it about as much as I did 7676, but getting a truly "ultimate" version of the iconic craft will definitely help soften the blow of my childhood Gunship's demise.
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18 comments on this article
I love that this gunship has the Kowakian monkey-lizard nose art!
"YOU CONTROL THE ACTION WITH THE NEW LEGO STAR WARS REPUBLIC ATTACK GUNSHIP! Fire the flick missiles, and blast the Seperatist army! *eachsetsoldseperately*
Man, those 2008 Clone Wars sets are so nostalgic.
@Rothgar_Deng said:
"I love that this gunship has the Kowakian monkey-lizard nose art!"
They provided multiple stickers to make it an interchangeable design, didn't they?
This was the UCS set some of us were looking for... Lol
I remember when the show used to come on Cartoon Network. My family and I (though usually just my brother) would rush back home before it was on almost every week to see the new episode. I remember it being one of the few things I was able to relate to other kids with at school as well. Even the more athletic kids watched it, so that gave at least some common ground for me to work with that I otherwise wouldn't have had.
And then when the episode was over, my brother and I would scramble to grab the remote before the adult shows came on and got in trouble. Those first few seconds of King of the Hill were basically like an alarm telling us to change the channel.
I remember getting this for Christmas when I was 7. It's such a great set, and the nostalgia I associate with it only makes it better.
Awesome set, I have the Gunship that came after this one based on Episode 2 and I was one of those kids who grew in his formative years with the Prequels, I had seen the OT but I really connected with Epstain I-III and the Clone Wars show was a cherry on top.
I’ve had a pretty rocky relationship with this set. I appreciate the memories you and several other people have with this, but not me. You see I brought this set from a guy who was giving away his LEGO and I chose this over the Imperial Landing Craft.
When I got home however, I realised it must have been left in the sun, because all the parts were yellowing. In addition, several parts were missing or broken. Despite this, it stayed on my shelf for a while before I gave it to a kid from church who had just moved towns.
Anyway, I got the AT-TE from this wave later. The quality was much, much better.
Excellent choice. One of the top five star wars vehicles in my opinion. My son has the 2013 version and it's one of the sets I won't ever let him take apart.
I never watched clone wars when it aired, but have recently binged the whole series, so I never got many sets from it. I really wish Lego would make sets for season seven, because I’m now forced to watch the show without having any LEGO sets from it.
I recently started watching the Clone Wars, and am through season 3. The prequel trilogy and Clone Wars are definetly my favorite Star Wars media.
The only bad thing about this set is it doesn't have any side gun pods. You basically have to make them. But I did find this set for a good clearance price so that is a plus.
Despite loving Star Wars as a whole (it’s my favourite theme), the Clone Wars is so much better than the films. I was born when they started coming out and my dad and I used to watch them. Lego, please make more Clone Wars sets because I was too young to get them at the time, and now I’ve missed out on some incredible sets. I re-watched the Clone Wars recently, before season 7 and I didn’t realise that you had to have Disney+ which I’d ridiculous, because I’m not paying £6 a week to watch a couple of animated episodes, Clone Wars or no.
Too bad the stickers don't last long and peel off. Bought this set used and Asajj's cloth skirt was missing. Most expensive part of this set.
Great set unfortunately it came out during my dark age, but I have it's successor 75021. I just realised that came out 7 years ago would be time for a new updated version.
Being an old person I am an avid hater of anything non original trilogy or new canon BUT I have to give a thumbs up for the prequels because of creative vehicle design, especially with ships like this.
It is a very good rendition and a nice set.
My very first Star Wars set. LOVE IT!
@Brickalili said:
" @Rothgar_Deng said:
"I love that this gunship has the Kowakian monkey-lizard nose art!"
They provided multiple stickers to make it an interchangeable design, didn't they?"
They did?!? I had this set, but don’t seem to remember any additional stickers being included. It was back when the set was out on store shelves, so I could easily have forgotten, I guess.